Locating the jackals was not difficult, nor would it have been under different circumstances. The Weeper was an excellent tracker by all accounts but his job was made significantly easier by the number of tip-offs his band of slavers had received.
One old goat had spoken of how one deranged and shirtless jackal had glowered at her for disciplining a slave. An antelope pointed the way they went, claiming that one of the canines had tried to pounce him. And when they arrived in front of the villa, it's doors decorated with a pair of luxurious black roses, a plethora of neighbors had come forth to share gossip about one Vera Darkrose's guests.
Three jackals, two a sandy orange and one pitch black, a pudgy porcupine, a pair of fennec foxes and a small group of toads.
"Putana has turned against us." The langur slaver mused.
"Her gods have." The Weeper said with an eye roll. Then the albino leopard raised a paw for silence and slowly, the hubbub quitened. "Never fear, we shall bring these foreign dogs to heel." He twirled his spear expertly about him, drawing 'ooooohs' and 'aaaaahs' from those around him and a derisive snort from Bei. "We shall bring you back your slaves!" The manly-voiced dog, hairy pig and apron-clad bunny all cheered wildly. "And we shall enslave or kill anyone who stands…" Still twirling the spear around him, he half-marched, half-cart-wheeled towards the door. "In our way!" The butt of his spear was brought viciously into the doors…
...Which refused to budge. Instantly the crowd went silent, save for a cricket who was chirping rather loudly. Growling, the Weeper slammed his bone spear into the doors once more, then another, and then again. Yet, although they shook from the blows, they refused to give in.
"We can't break this." The leopard snarled, backing away slightly.
"It's hopeless!" The gharial slaver despaired. "We can't break through those doors! They must be ironwood!"
The crowd shared in his despair and wailed like banshees.
The Weeper gave a roar of outrage, took a few more steps backwards and then charged at the doors with all the strength he could muster. His form hit the rose-doors, and they shook from the blow, but in the end it was he that suffered the most damage and fell flat on his rump.
"We must find another way in!" The leopard declared, rubbing a bruised shoulder.
Bei shook her head, stomped over, tested the handle and easily pulled the door open.
The crowd was as silent as a class in detention.
"They are made of Ironwood." The gharial pointed out, scratching at his neck.
"Which we will burn." The Weeper snarled. "But first let us catch our prey!" He jabbed his spear forwards and the collection of Ashtar's finest, or, alternatively, the worst of the worst, rushed past him and burst into the villa. "After we discuss our battle plans!" He seethed, to many groans of complaint. "Me, I will lead most of you through the villa, Bei can search by herself. Naked rabbit-"
"I am wearing an apron!"
The Weeper was tempted to kill him for that. Noone threatened his authority, especially not… pastry chefs… "You will guard these doors with a small group, and if anyone tries to rush past you will pounce and alert us. Give a bird-call or something. Now, select hunting parties! The crocodile's with me."
"I'm a gharial, actually."
Only a minute or so after Splintnose had left to get his beloved a flower, a dozen tigers and several other members of Vera's gang burst into the waiting room. They did not say anything, but locked the door twice, lifted the couch and all on it and placed it against the door, slammed the windows shut and drew the curtains as far as they would go.
"Excuse me… what are you doing?" Tian Yi was compelled to ask when the group began nailing planks over the door.
"The villa is under attack." One tiger replied. At the sight of her widened eyes he proceeded to diffuse the situation over the sound of his companions' work. "Very common occurrence, don't worry. Everyone is here." He indicated himself and the other clad-in-white residents of the villa. "Miss Vera and Inkling are in their office and you are all here. Don't worry. Noone ever gets through our defences." He tapped proudly at the planks, a confident smirk growing across his face. It vanished when Blacktooth kicked him.
"We're not all here actually! My bro is outside. Now open the door so I can get him."
"Wait!" Shouted Green-eyes. "We should come up with a signal so that when you knock on the door we know that it's you."
"What if I say fee-fi-fo-fum?"
"Too obvious! Try Gupta Gurjot gored a gang of geese."
"Noone is leaving this room." The tiger interrupted. "We are on lockdown until Miss Vera says otherwise."
"So you are her slaves?" Padma cocked her head to the side. "I'm confused sometimes."
"We are not her slaves! We are her friends." The striped feline replied indigantly, straightening his shirt.
Green-eyes snorted. "Please. Who even listens to their friends? I don't. Now open the door." The wolf stood up. He wasn't a fighter by any standard, but he was big and had robbed many a person by intimidation alone. He sat down again when the rest of Vera's 'friends' turned on him. "Or do what you want. I don't even like Splintnose that much."
"But he's my bro!" Blacktooth whined. The tigers were impassive, so the fat sable turned to Tian Yi. "He loves you! You can't let him die!"
"Wait, he loves you?" The tiger interrupted, very interested in this piece of fresh gossip.
"Isn't he a bit small?" One of the toads piped up.
"Yes. He is. Thank you!" Green-eyes clapped proudly.
"Do you reciprocate his feelings?" The tiger asked and suddenly all eyes were on Tian Yi. The invasion, Splintnose's life, all of it was somehow less important than her personal love life. For reasons...
"Well… I - er-, I don't know. I mean, I don't really know him. And he tried to rob me that one time."
The toads and tigers winced. "Oof, bad start."
"Warning signs of domestic abuse right there."
Tian Yi wasn't sure what compelled her to go on. The sable's obsession with her had come out of nowhere, but perhaps talking about it would help her understand better. "But I guess he seems... nice? I don't know. At first I kind of thought he was just being ridiculous, but then he kept doing it for so long so I think he's serious. But I don't know, noone's ever acted like that around me. Ever. I kind of want to say no but then he might get sad and I don't want him to be sad… even though we're not even friends… I mean we did go on a rescue mission together and he seems to think I saved his life that one time and my brother did give him backside-tooth surgery." Tian Yi shook her head. "You know the more I think about it, the less I understand."
"You should follow your heart." Blacktooth advised. "The heartbeat is very important."
"Nah, I say you dump the guy." One toad picked up a random cup of tea and leaned back into the couch. "The fact that he started with assault and then tried to win you over is a tell-tale sign of manipulation. Not what you want in a relationship."
"Splintnose isn't smart enough to manipulate." Green-eyes snapped. He then cleared his throat and raised a claw. "I still don't support this marriage-"
"Marriage!?" Tian Yi exclaimed, shocked. "Who said anything about marriage!?"
"Well I don't support children either." The wolf added. "Nasty things."
Surya and his sister were compelled to glare at the lupine. Green-eyes went on, oblivious.
"And even if you could breed they would be some weird jackal sable hybrid and end up ugly and unemployed." He shivered violently. He turned to Tian Yi. "If you must mate do it with your own kind."
"I really wasn't thinking about mating." Tian Yi scowled, rubbing at her temples.
"Idiot! Don't listen to him." Another toad stood up and jabbed a finger into his chest. "I love cats. Does my species stop me from enjoying myself in the ways I do? Absolutely not! Love and mating must not be held back by the labels we put over ourselves. I may be in the body of a toad. But deep down, I know that I'm a cat!"
He was promptly shouted down by nearly everyone else (well, Green-eyes and a trio of tigers). Another toad, who had stood up to declare his own undying love for canines, sat down and forever kept his silence.
Suddenly there came a knocking at the door and all went silent.
"Is anyone in there?" Came a manly-voice that made Surya stiffen and growl. If he could talk he'd have said something along the lines of 'that crazy she-male followed me here! Well now it's my turn to beat her up'. He slammed his tiny fist into his waiting, and equally tiny palm. Oh he was going to enjoy this.
"You don't ask your slaves to come out." The langur slaver's voice said impatiently. "And yes, someone should be here, all the other rooms were empty and this is the only one that's locked." He gave the door a few, powerful kicks, but it stood in place.
A tiger put a paw to his lips to signal for silence and faced everyone in the room one by one. It was eerily quiet inside the living room.
Until Blacktooth farted.
Whether or not the slavers had heard the sable's unfortunate bout of flatulence (mango skin was supposed to be removed before consumption) was debatable.
But they definitely heard Green-eyes. The wolf, who had been standing next to the fat sable, kicked him away and clamped a paw over his nose.
"Ew man! Quick! Someone open a window!"
"I don't smell anything." Blacktooth complained, twisting his tail in red-faced shame.
"Hey Weeper! I found them! They're just behind these doors!"
"The door should hold." One tiger said confidently, although he still glowered at the two for giving them away.
A swift, strong, pounding beat at the door, which shook from each blow and sent the hinges screaming in protest.
"Or maybe not…" The feline swallowed audibly and began backing away.
"Maybe next time we're hiding." Green-eyes whimpered. "Let's actually be quiet."
"We're doomed." Blacktooth whined.
Unfortunately, Tian Yi had to agree. And not just because of the smell...
Splintnose had next to no time to plan, though perhaps that was a blessing. His plans had a notorious zero percent success rate. But that was Green-eyes' fault…
Inkling's footsteps were drawing closer and he acted while he still had some kind of advantage. The white sable recoiled like a spring, ready to bounce out of reach as soon as the cupboard came open.
Unbeknownst to him, Vera and Inkling were also playing the waiting game. Both stood still at the sides of the cupboard doors, waiting for it to inevitably kick out towards them and for whoever was inside to make their bid for freedom. It was the most commonly used method of escape in Ashtar. Which is why it almost never worked on them.
"Hey, Vera. I think I heard something in the hall." Inkling hissed with a wink. Despite the eye contact his tone betrayed none of his agenda.
Vera Darkrose was grinning, but did not sound like it, and picked up a crooked staff. "I swear I heard something from over here."
"Must have been from outside. Intruders remember?"
"You're right. Better go check."
The aardvark stomped away, loud enough to pass for two pairs of feet. Then without a sound crouched low and prepared to pounce at whoever emerged from their hiding place.
Within the cupboard, beads of sweat were trailing down Splintnose's head like never-ending rain drops against a window. His presence had remained unnoted but he was not in the clear yet. The she-wolf's scent still clung to the air, a desperate reminder that he had to leave.
The white sable pushed the door open and crawled out of the darkness of the cupboard. Inkling pounced and he screamed and Vera brought a staff down.
Much to her annoyance it was Inkling she struck, and not the sable. The aardvark was stunned by the blow and the sable shot away like a bolt from a crossbow. Vera hurled the staff after him but missed.
"W-what happened?" Inkling groaned, rubbing at his head.
Ignoring him, the she-wolf growled in frustration and gave chase.
Splintnose, despite his headstart, was at a disadvantage. For one thing wolves were faster than sables, owing to their status as apex predators. Splintnose was not even as fast as the average sable, owing to unfitness and his sore rump. On top of natural disadvantages he was in her villa, her territory and if she caught up to him he was easy prey.
He did have one advantage however, and that was being a sable. Lack of speed aside he was slinkier than she was, which made darting around pillars far easier.
And Vera's villa was full of pillars. Nimbly, but perhaps unwisely when it came to conservation of energy, Splintnose weaved around the many, many pillars. All of whom seemed to be decorated with black roses. Geez, what's with her flower obsession?
Vera smirked as she ran. So the eavesdropper had gotten lucky. Judging from the helter-skelter way he ran, the sable was in some kind of panicked frenzy, or he was lost. Both were just as likely but it made no difference. Adrenaline or not she was gaining on him fast and it was only a matter of time before she caught up.
"Whatever you heard, you don't understand." She mocked, gaining on him.
Splintnose turned a corner and she followed…
… and hit a pillar.
"Sucker!" Shouted the sable, shooting past her and back the way they came.
Vera growled and pulled her muzzle free of the miniature crater she had created on impact. Why did she even have that many pillars? And why were they so easy to damage?
Ignoring the logistics of her villa (to be fair she wasn't the architect), she went back to chasing her quarry.
Splintnose would have been a sweating, panting heap of dirty white fur if not for his survival instincts (which refused to let him stop no matter how tired he got) and the thought of never seeing Tian Yi ever again. He hadn't even managed to get her a flower… he couldn't die now! He had to make her smile first!
That, however, didn't seem likely. Not with an angry Vera only a few feet away.
"Gotcha! Hey Vera I-" Inkling would have finished with 'got him' but the she-wolf was moving too fast to stop.
"Idiot!" She screamed, as she came crashing into him. All three rolled along the floor in a tangle of limbs until they hit a pillar and came to a halt.
Splintnose, being both the smallest and used to getting wrapped up in fur and flesh (his fellow bandits were useless, what else could he say?) burst from the pile and sprinted down the hallway once more. Vera followed suite but Inkling had to wrestle down a minor concussion before he could follow.
Not even the power of love was enough. Cynical though that sounded, Splintnose could not outrun the two forever, and he was beginning to run out of things for them to comedically bump into.
Luckily for him, he was especially lucky today and happened across an open door, wide open and with the key on the lock. It was a gift from Cupid himself no doubt. He darted inside just as Vera snapped her jaws shut over where his tail had been and slammed the door shut on her face, turned the key round twice and threw it inihis mouth to swallow whole for good measure. It would hurt his throat a lot and would hurt his stomach more, but as long as he lived-
He nearly choked on the key when he realized he had just locked himself in with Bei the Black, a slaver he recognised instantly.
"If you hadn't barged in I'd have had him by now." Vera was saying.
"You barged me last time I checked." There came the sound of a slap. "Alright, alright, I'll pick the lock."
There was no need to do so. Splintnose slammed the key inside the keyhole, but before he could spin it, Bei had already kicked the door off it's hinges.
"Run!" Screamed the sable to his former pursuers. Neither Vera or Inkling had expected the door to slam into them and were consequently dazed. It may have been the most classic method of escape, but they hadn't expected such a small mammal to pack such a punch. Both sobered up instantly upon catching sight of Bei and the lean panda's massive fan.
Fear did wonders for speed and Splintnose was soon trailing far behind the two he'd been outrunning only moments before, with Bei hot on his heels.
"Wait for me!" The sable whined, but neither made any move to obey.
"Break those doors! Rah rah rah! Goooo Weeper!" The albino leopard continued to batter himself against the ironwood doors, ignoring as best he could the mounting pain along his arms, knees and face (the doors were after all, ironwood). The support of his fellow slavers was surprisingly helpful, perhaps he'd been wrong to consider killing them all... Although it would have been nice of them to help with the door a little more.
Inside the 'safe' room, more and more ridiculous survival suggestions were being passed around.
"Let's surrender!"
"I didn't want to die!"
"Don't eat me!"
"Shut up and focus!"
"We need to find weapons."
"What if I try to seductively trick them? Cats are seductive, right?"
"Maybe I should break the window?"
Well they weren't all suggestions...
Nevertheless they had no more time to discuss potential battle plans as at that moment the ironwood door broke open and the couch was kicked aside and the planks head-butted through by a very purple Weeper (the ironwood had taken a lot out of him).
Green-eyes screamed, Blacktooth wet himself and a burly tiger threw a stool at the Weeper. It missed by a wide margin, but the Weeper could sense the intent and snarled.
"Calm down Weeps. I'll handle public relations." The langur stepped smoothly past the enraged albino (who did not appreciate the nickname), cleared his throat and did his best impression of Crotos Quillus. "You are all slaves now. Be grateful. Freedom is overrated. And you're making me rich, so that's a bonus. All in all you should be h-"
The hairy pig and manly-voiced dog barged past the simian and stomped towards Surya, rather unthreateningly. "Hello brat! Remember me! Ha! I'm going to beat you blood-"
"After you pay for him." The langur reminded, holding them back.
"For what? We already bought him once!"
"Then you lost him. Now you're buying again." The Weeper grunted.
"That's not fair." Blacktooth pointed out.
"Shut it!" The manly-voiced dog demanded. Then she turned to the leopard. "That's not fair!"
"That's what I said!" The fat sable complained. "You know what? It is fair! Make her pay double!"
"I like that idea." The langur admitted. "Alright. The slaves are now three times more expensive."
"That's not what double means!" The hairy pig growled.
"Double is four times more." Green-eyes pointed out. "He's giving you a good deal."
"He's trying to sell us." Tian Yi spoke through gritted teeth, but noone seemed to notice her.
The Weeper, too, had clenched his jaw tightly shut. "Stop communicating, or else our prey will find some means of escape." He raised his spear and hurled it at the wall next to a toad who had been trying to silently inch away. It quivered on the spot until the amphibian swallowed audibly. "Get them." The leopard snarled, his claws shooting out of their natural sheaths.
Tian Yi froze in place, like a cat faced with headlights… not that anyone knew what headlights were…
Padma however, did not, and picking up a pillow, brought it swiftly into the feline's face. How she had managed to get it that high was anyone's guess, but noone had time for guesses.
One of Vera's tigers seized the moment and brought his fist into the Weeper's jaw. Green-eyes screamed and dived behind the couch- he was only mildly surprised when Tian Yi joined him. The next thing anyone knew was that the once calm living room had become a violent brawl-pit.
Surya, against his better judgement, and no doubt his mother's advice, went straight for the manly-voiced dog. The… canine (whom Surya was ashamed to even think of as a canine) never saw him coming. Which wasn't much of a surprise considering the biggest part of him were his ears. His tiny vulpine fist, which in his dreams could level entire mountain ranges… didn't even knock a tooth loose. It seemed to annoy her more than anything.
"Why you little bra-" His next attack was a bit less impressive, but far more effective. Spit was a powerful weapon in the paws of a child... Or in the eyes of an enemy. "You little s-" Equally unfair, but even more effective was the foot-stomp. The dog wasn't much bigger than him so even his minuscule weight sent her hopping on one foot. From there it was all too easy to- with a flourish for extra showmanship- sweep her off her feet and into the floor.
He crossed his paws and gave the single most smug smirk in his arsenal of facial expressions- which was vast because emoting was his only form of communication.
"Remember me?" The langur slaver, whom Surya did indeed remember (although he hadn't really done anything too impressive) grabbed one of his long ears and twisted cruelly. "Nothing personal. Just want to get rich. You know, illegally. Lots of fun to be had in cri-"
Now was not the time for fancy flourishes. He had known Sanjay for the majority of his life, and if the jackal had taught him anything it was that the only place worth hitting someone you couldn't beat in a fair fight was 'between the legs'. Which is what Surya did. Twice. In a row. In swift succession.
"Now…" The primate wheezed, his monkey hands clutching a groin in pain… "It's personal."
Surya desperately wanted to say something badass- the way Shade always did. Something like 'it was always personal'. As it was, the mute decided to poke the simian's eyes.
The langur screamed, tripped over his own tail and fell over.
"Doggy pile!" Shouted a tiger, and no less than four of the felines pounced upon the hapless slaver. In hindsight it was more of a kitty pile.
The hairy pig was next on Surya's list of vengeance. The great, stinking swine was distracted by a pair of toads he was duelling, and as such, Surya found it easy to sneak up on him- vase in paw. Leaping up as high as his small form could allow, the fennec kit brought the porcelain weapon into his opponent's skull. It broke, and the pig turned to him, glowering. He shouldn't have done that however, for he had exposed his back to the toad's, who promptly brought a stool down on him. High-fives were thrown around by the trio of fighters, only for the toads to be swept aside by the gharial slaver's tail and for said tail to slam into the top of Surya's skull.
The desert fox fell over, black spots coming and going from his line of sight. Then, to his horror, the manly-voiced dog stood over him, and brought a foot sharply down upon his nose. He yelped in pain, but it did not end there. Another fist, another blow, until his lungs were empty and he was coughing blood. Panic was beginning to take over, but he didn't want to let it. He didn't want to get lost. He didn't want to get stuck in some other body.
"Thought you had me, didn't you." She spat viciously. "It doesn't matter. You can't beat me. You know it. You'll submit like all the rest." Her paws were tightening around his throat now, in a grip that was vice-like and deadly. "I will bend you to my will whether you like it or not. Now… let's start simple. Call me… daddy!"
Surya, despite the lack of air, pulled a face. He was, in that moment, forced to reconsider all he thought he knew about this animal… Moreover he had no way of telling her that he was a mute.
But the world was going dark. He could not hold it back any longer. He panicked and left his form behind.
Somehow, the knowledge of what was going on made the experience more frightening. He bounced from a dozen different, faceless, shapeless, even colourless forms, all of whom sent him hurtling through space and time. Some he tried to barge through, but they fought back and threw him off, and Surya did his best to avoid them. He did not want to fight for control, not when he knew how easy it was to get lost in another's mind. And especially now that his body- he- was in mortal peril.
Yet, eventually, he had to go somewhere. It was just his luck that that somewhere let him in and fled away without so much as a struggle. The fennec found himself in a strange room. If it could be called a room. He was inside someone's head after all. It was empty, save and except for a chair and several dozen buttons and levers of various colours. The chait was soft and red and no-doubt comfortable. Frowning ever-so-slightly, for this was at once horrible and too good to be true, Surya sat upon the chair, and felt himself take over.
Blacktooth, like everyone else in the room, was overcome with wrestle-mania. Unfortunately, like nearly everyone else in the room, he wasn't particularly good at it. So barely a minute into the brawl, a crocodilian tail came for his face and threw him across the room and over the couch. He lay flat on his face for a long while after, but eventually pushed himself to his feet, determined to sink his sharp sable teeth into the same crocodile's ass. Then he would understand pain.
He found Green-eyes, curled up in a ball besides him, and Tian Yi, pale-faced, wide-eyed and spaced-out. Frankly they both looked possessed.
"Are you guys okay?" He was compelled to ask. Compelled? Oh no! It was taking him over too!
"No!" Tian Yi whimpered. "I'm not okay! I-I- can barely move! All I can think- I can't- I can't do anything."
She was definitely possessed. Blacktooth tried to back away, but found he had landed in a corner. He would now have to reason with the spirit... Or perform an excorsism but he wasn't sure how to do that…
"It's okay. Er- you don't have to do anything. Just er- be a good spirit. Good ghost. Don't bite the sable. He may be fat but he doesn't taste good. S-smells worse."
Tian Yi opened and closed her paws. That much she could still do, but she could not stop them from shaking, let alone use them. Padma, Surya, her brothers and the other kids were all relying on her... And she was too scared to do anything.
"Right, I'm going to fight. Nobody possess me please." Blacktooth tiptoed past Green-eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when he was not overtaken.
"You are going to fight?" The wolf barked. "That has got to be the stupidest thing I ever heard."
The sable shrugged. "I've got to contribute. Besides, I owe someone a tail whack." The sable waved his tail behind him, unaware that it would do next to nothing useful in combat. "You should fight too. You'd be good at it."
Something seemed to overtake the wolf, who immediately shot to his feet, battle stance at the ready, threw back his head and laughed.
Blacktooth screamed. "Gramdmaaaaa! Ghost got Green-eyes! Ghost got Green-eyes!"
It was only after running into a wall in panic, that he remembered that his grandma wasn't there.
Surya could not suppress a loud cackle. Every inch of this new form radiated power. He felt huge! And was huge! Inside the mind of Green-eyes the little fennec leaned back in the super-comfy chair, and imagined a very large cup of lassi- complete with straw straws. Lo and behold it appeared.
The huge, blue-eyed wolf's first target was the manly-voiced dog. Vaulting over the couch he caught hold of the chandelier, and swung right into the, as his new, more vulgar form would say, bitch. She went right through an adjacent wall with a scream, and suddenly all eyes were on him. It was probably because the chandelier had come crashing down... Or because of the dog-shaped hole in several walls.
"We're saved!" Padma cheered.
The gharial slaver was next and swung his tail at Surya's, or rather Green-eyes' feet. The wolf hopped over it, as if it were a skipping rope- complete with the arm-waving of little children. In retaliation, the lupine-vulpine slammed his foot down on the crocodile's toes, spun his arm around and uppercut the gharial into the ceiling.
"CALL A PRIEST! THE GHOST KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT! THE GHOST KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT!" Blacktooth continued screaming. He had known Green-eyes since they had been babies together. Sure the wolf was big- but he'd never won a fight before. Let alone so… effortless…
"He's on our side." A toad pointed out.
"I say we cheer for him!" Cried Padma, and Vera's tigers did.
Green-eyes froze suddenly, and was unable to avoid the Weeper's fly-kick. The wolf hit the wall and was still. The cheering stopped abruptly.
"Hey. This is my head." The sound took Surya by surprise, and the fennec looked up to see the big wolf standing over him. "What are you doing in my head?" The lupine demanded, his arms crossed.
Surya did not get a chance to reply, for the Weeper was coming at him fast. No worries, he could dodge. Suddenly a joystick grew from one of the armrests... Not that anyone knew what a joystick was.
But it was clearly made for the purpose of dodging! The fennec grabbed it at the same time as Green-eyes, and both twisted… in opposite directions.
The whole 'room' shook violently, and crashed into a wall. Both Surya and Green-eyes winced. The Weeper's blow had been strong enough to hurt their shared subconscious.
"Damnit pipsqueak! Get out of my head!" The big wolf grabbed Surya by the scruff and threw him across the room, before hastily sitting on the chair and slamming no less than fifteen different buttons.
The fighting had drawn to a halt. Not because either side were tiring, but because Green-eyes and the Weeper were the central focus of all present.
The leopard had wrenched his bone spear from the wall and swung it at the lupine's skull. The burly wolf, however, managed to grab hold of the weapon before it could do any damage, and pulled the leopard's face into his rising knee. Blood exploded from the albino's already bruised nose. Snarling, the Weeper's claws tore open the wolf's chest, eliciting a cry of pain from said wolf. Several kicks followed until Green-eyes lay upon the ground.
"Good! Kill the ghost! Kill! Kill it!"
"Why are you rooting for him!?"
Green-eyes hopped off the chair, his paws clasped tightly over his face. "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die." He half-paced, half-ran around the seat of control. Surya frowned slightly, but did not want to know what death felt like… even if it wasn't technically his. The kit hopped back into the chair just in time to catch the Weeper's incoming fist in his own. Or rather, Greeneyes'.
The big wolf managed to raise his elbow in time to block the Weeper's next fist and retaliated with a punch of his own that winded the feline.
Surya leaned forwards and pressed the 'attack' button.
The Weeper was unable to avoid a powerful right hook to the face.
He leaned backwards and hit the button.
Or the jab to his ribs that came a fraction of a second later.
Surya sunk further into the soft pillows, so that only his ears and his little paws were visible. Still, they did not need to be visible to press the 'attack' button.
Green-eyes continued to press his advantage, landing a headbut, followed swiftly by a pair of a hundred and eighty degree swings.
Surya pulled himself free of the pillows to reach the joystick and spun it around.
The massive lupine performed a sloppy, but effective, roundhouse kick.
The Weeper fell to the floor with barely a groan and lay still.
"Okay! This looks like fun. My turn!" Green-eyes sat down firmly upon the chair, and by extension the fennec. Ignoring the fox's pathetic attempts to throw him off and regain control, he grabbed the joystick and slammed several buttons.
The blue-eyed wolf threw himself upon the slavers with a renewed vigor, throwing haphazard punches left and right.
Surya was disgusted by the lack of skill on display. The wolf didn't even know how to use his own body properly! He didn't even try and avoid the attacks that came his way, and was lucky to have lasted nearly a full minute in combat.
The hairy pig was charging, a pair of sharp daggers in his hooves.
Green-eyes did not panic this time, he didn't notice either but luckily did not stop Surya's arms popping free of his weight.
The fox slammed his paw over the big red button that said 'kick' just in the nick of time, and watched the swine crash through a wall.
"Good job kid!" Green-eyes ruffled the fur between his ears. It would have been a more affectionate gesture if he wasn't still squashing him.
"Stop!" Came the Weeper's raspy snarl. The albino looked nothing short of demented. Covered in blood, with ruffled fur and a missing tooth, the leopard held in one paw a knife, and in the other, Padma. "No more! Stop fighting or the girl dies."
Luckily, rescue came in the form of Tian Yi. Or rather, the vase she brought down hard upon the Weeper's head. Normally, nothing as puny as a flowerpot could bring down the Weeper. But he'd been battered first by the ironwood doors and then by Greeneyes.
He didn't even try to get up upon hitting the floor. Not like he could have anyways…
"We surrender!" The rest of the slavers cried in unison, and threw down their weapons.
"Okay kid. You can get out now." Green-eyes stood up and lifted Surya by the scruff. A door opened in front of them, and ignoring the fox's squirming, the wolf threw him out.
Surya sat up with a gasp, and patted himself all over, just to make sure that his long ears, fluffy tail and scruffy fur were, well, his. When it became apparent that he was back in his own body he gave a tremendous sigh of relief and fell back upon the floor, exhausted.
Green-eyes too, collapsed, breathing heavily. "What… in… the… name… of… cheese… was… that?" He sat up to glare at Surya, the fox kit that had invaded his head, but was interrupted by Blacktooth.
"You were awesome Greeneyes! You fought off that burnt leopard and the ghost that was possessing you! Man, grandma won't believe any of this!"
Vera Darkrose burst into the room, her nose bent badly, as if she had run into a pillar or something. "We need to leave. Right now!"
"Crazy bear-thing." Inkling panted. "More guys outside. And there's a massive army coming our way!"
Footnote: If I had to critique this chapter I'd say that the Weeper is a little underused. To be honest I still don't really have a 'style' for him. Which is going to have to change soon. I mean, he's not going to fight anymore but I do have... Plans... For him...
But we're still not done and Bei (the *real* powerhouse on team slaver) is still running rampant so more fights will follow soon. That is, the next time I update.
Now in regards to Surya. Possession is such an abstract concept that I had a lot of fun figuring out all the 'rules' so to speak. You'll note that his previous two possessions, Licky and The Weeper weren't basically Mechas. Basically what I came up with was that because Greeneyes is as dumb as they come and a coward, he is remarkably easy to take over. Hence, the chair. But the main difference is that Surya now kind of gets what's going on, so his mind is rationalising his abilities and the back and forth fight for control into buttons and levers and a comfy chair rather than a confusing and oppressive darkness that has no form.
That's me, clearing up my inconsistency. Although I did plan this from the beginning (it's another reason I kept Green-eyes alive) and probably ranks as one of my trippier fight scenes. All the italicized stuff is what's happening inside Green-eyes' head (Surya's rationalising of it anyways) and those not in italics is what's happening in 'reality'. Also, Greeneyes is strong. He just... Doesn't know how to use his strength.
As for the title: Splintnose's scene is another Tom and Jerry-esque chase scene, so parody. Surya and Greeneyes is a mecha parody. Blacktooth farting is a parody of a Heinz beans advert (not for astronauts) and Tian Yi talking about Splintnose is a parody of some of those 'reality' TV shows where they talk about relationships.
That and I couldn't think of a better title.